Definitive Report - Report No 202, June 1980

Case No 916 (Peru) - Complaint date: 27-SEP-78 - Closed

1. 56. This case was considered by the Committee in November 1979, when it submitted an interim report to the Governing Body.
2. 57. Since it last considered the case, the Committee has received communications sent by the Government on 22 January and 28 February 1980.
3. 58. Peru has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 59. The allegations to be considered relate to the arrest of the national executive of the Peruvian Telephone Workers' Union which, according to the complainants, was exclusively for trade union reasons. They also relate to the situation at the CROMOTEX textile mill which was raided by the police on the occasion of a strike, a civil guard being killed and a number of workers killed or wounded; as a result of this several workers have been charged.
2. 60. In its reply the Government stated that two persons were dismissed after it was proved that they had sabotaged equipment belonging to the Peruvian Telephone Company, and that other persons arrested in connection with the same incident had been released and were still at work but that their case was still being investigated. Finally with respect to CROMOTEX, the Government states that practically the entire staff occupied the premises of the mill and set up a system of defence, arming themselves with explosives. As a result of a clash with the police who were carrying out a judge's order to evict, a Civil Guard captain was killed and several policemen were injured. Five of the occupants were killed and several were arrested. In, its communication of 26 October 1979, the Government stated that the case brought before the military judges against four workers was about to finish and that the workers judged previously had been reinstated in their jobs or dismissed with compensation.
3. 61. In considering the case in November 1979 the Governing Body, on the Committee's recommendation:
   • (a) asked the Government to supply information as to the present situation of the leaders of the Telephone workers' Union and as to the outcome of the investigations undertaken in respect of certain members of this union following a strike;
   • (b) deplored the seriousness of the incidents which occurred at the CROMOTEX undertaking and which lead to the death of several persons, and requested the Government to indicate whether an inquiry had been initiated to determine responsibilities in respect of these deaths, and, if so, to inform the Committee of its findings;
   • (c) noted that four workers were now undergoing trial and requested the Government to supply the text of the judgements handed down and the reasons adduced therefore.
4. 62. In its communication dated 22 January 1980 the Government states that on the occasion of the Christmas holiday it granted a special pardon and dropped proceedings against persons sentenced or awaiting sentence who had been of good conduct, amongst them the CROMOTEX workers.
5. 63. In its communication dated 28 February 1980 the Government stated that at that date no union leaders of the Telephone Company of Peru were under arrest or facing proceedings as a result of the strike in December 1978.
6. 64. The Committee notes with interest the information supplied by the Government with respect to the special pardon extended to the CROMOTEX workers who were undergoing trial before a military judge and the fact that no trade union leaders of the Peruvian Telephone Company are under arrest or facing proceedings as a consequence of the strike in December 1978.
7. 65. However, the Committee notes that the Government has not stated whether an investigation to determine responsibilities in connection with the deaths at the CROMOTEX mill has been started. In this connection the Committee recalls that in cases of police intervention to disperse public meetings or demonstrations involving loss of human life it has stressed the great importance it attaches to the circumstances being fully investigated by an immediate an independent special inquiry and to the regular legal procedure being followed to determine the justification and responsibility for the police action.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 66. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide, having regard to the fact that the persons concerned have peen freed and subject to the principles and considerations expressed in the preceding paragraph, that the case does not call for further information.